Connecticut Yellow Cab Company Goes Green

3/27/1999 6:22:00 AM

In Bloomfield, CT little girls can have big ideas. Honda Civic GX
natural gas powered sedans are wearing bright yellow as part of the
Yellow Cab Company's move to go green. However, if it wasn't for
Shantal, the 10-year-old daughter of Marco Henry, president and CEO
of Yellow Cab Company, the idea may never have developed.

"My daughter was really worried about saving the planet, which got
me thinking," said Henry. "Suddenly, I found myself determined to
find a way for my company to help cut air pollution."

As a test, the 100-year-old taxicab company purchased six GXs in
October 1998 from Manchester Honda in Manchester, Conn. They were so
well-received by both cab drivers and passengers that in January
1999, the taxi service bought 25 more Civic GXs.

Henry noted that local residents often request the natural gas
vehicles when they call for a cab.

"The Civic GX was a natural choice for The Yellow Cab Company
because it has the cleanest internal combustion engine in the world
and it gets higher fuel economy than other fleet vehicles," said
Craig Peters, assistant sales manager and administrator of natural
gas vehicle purchases at Manchester Honda.

Not only does the environment benefit from The Yellow Cab
Company's use of ultra-low emission vehicles, but operational costs
have been reduced. The Civic GXs also provide far better mileage than
the vehicles they replaced.

The cost of adding the ultra-clean Civics to the fleet was offset
by financial assistance from Capital Clean Cities Coalition, a
non-profit organization. The company was also able to acquire major
government funds from CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality)
and additional financial assistance from Connecticut Natural Gas. The
Civic GXs account for one-third of the cab company's total fleet.